Improvements Set for Cairo

Monday's Southeast Missourian had a good story about some of the improvements taking place in Cairo.

CAIRO, Ill. -- This community once envisioned to become a great Midwestern metropolis has suffered from an economic depression for at least half a century. But flickers of life have appeared recently. Biodiesel and coal gasification are two of the industries considering locating in Cairo. There's talk of relocating the airport to make room for other industries.

Another sign of life can be found in attempts to preserve Cairo's history. In a few weeks, construction is scheduled to begin on a design that will rehabilitate and expand the vacant tollhouse next to the Ohio River bridge into a museum that will reflect Cairo's Civil War and transportation history. The $1 million project is being funded through a variety of sources but primarily the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Cairo's history offers tremendous potential for tourism development. It's good to see a new administration in the city working toward that goal.

New Convenience Store Opens Below Hill

The new FiveStar Food Mart convenience store opened yesterday at around 2 p.m. located at the northeast corner of Route 13 (West DeYoung) and Halfway Road just west of Exit 54.

The store is the first Illinois location for Newcomb Oil Co., a Bardstown, Kentucky-based company.

It's also the first of what will hopefully be several new projects on the former site of the old Wolohan Lumber Co. The parent company sold most of its stores and morphed into a real estate development company focusing on its real estate holdings such as the Marion land.

The convenience store is just one of several projects underway on the city's west side.

Big New Industry Targeting Marion

It's not on their website yet, but WJPF News Radio is reporting a large national retailer may be just weeks away from announcing the selection of Marion for a new regional distribution center employing hundreds.

Marion Mayor Robert L. Butler told the station he's not been given the go-ahead to identify the name of the company but added that an announcement could come before the end of the month.

The new plant is a distribution center that could employ between 300 and 400 workers. Marion is already home to the large Circuit City distribution plant.

The Circuit City building is so big it's measured in acres rather than square feet. The new distribution center could very well be on the same scale. If so, that will be good for the hospitality industry. Construction jobs that big often involve specialized workers who come in and stay at area motels.

The new plant would be located east of Marion in a new industrial park on the south side of Route 13. The city council authorized a Phase I archaeological survey on the grounds earlier this summer. Later when U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello announced a multi-million dollar grant to extend a water line from Rend Lake to Marion Butler again commented about the number of jobs this would initiate.

Eagle Tours Registration Begins Dec. 10

Reservations open next week for the Bald Eagle tours at Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge. The tours take place the third and fourth weekends of January and begin at 8 a.m., 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and last 2.5 hours. The dates are January 19-20 and 26-27.

Reservations open on December 10 and may be made by calling 618-998-5933.

Each Eagle Watch tour begins at the refuge visitors center on Route 148 with a brief overview of the species and what visitors might expect to see on the tour. The tours use the refuge's vans and travel to places where bald eagles have been visited in the past.

Last year, of the six nests on the Refuge, five had at least one chick fledge. The new nest in Crab Orchard Campground was successful and hatched two eaglets. Eagles were seen at the other new nest on the east side of Little Grassy Lake near thedam, but they didn't actually produce any eaglets.

With six nests on the refuge, there should be at last 12 eagles on or near the refuge year round. Immature bald eagles usually remain near their nest for a couple of years after they've hatched, too. Wolf Creek Causeway near the fishing piers is a good places to spot one of the young eagles.

Bald eagles that winter at Crab Orchard NWR spend their summers in the northern United States and Canada feasting on fish. In the midst of the Southern Illinois winter, eagles often feed on sick and injured waterfowl.

According to the refuge's newsletter "Wild Times" every Eagle Watch tour over the last decade has seen at least one bald eagle.

Agritourism Conference Set for January

The Illinois Specialty Crops and Agritourism Conference is set for January 9-12, 2008 at the Crowne Plaza hotel & Convention Center.

Wendesday will be for workshops for specialty crops. There's one on using high tunnels and greenhouses to extend seasons and the other is on growing grapes in Illinois.

Sessions on Thursday and Friday are split into five tracts: Fruits, Vegetables, Herbs, Agritourism and Cross-Cutting Issues.

I attended this conference last year and it offered a number of good ideas and discussions.

Check out the group's website for more information.

Little Egypt Off-Road Wins State Grant

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources just awarded a $210,000 grant to Little Egypt Off-Road east of Crab Orchard earlier this month. The money comes from the state's Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Recreational Trails Program.

Little Egypt was one of six sites that will share $1.4 million in grants announced Nov. 9.

The OHV Recreational Trails Program is funded through the title fees on all-terrain vehicles and off-highway motorcycles, and through the sale of public access stickers that must be displayed on all off-highway vehicles using grant-assisted facilities. The program provides up to 100 percent reimbursement for approved project costs, which may include land acquisition from willing sellers, construction and maintenance of OHV trails and related facilities, restoration of areas damaged by OHV use, and for education and safety programs.

Local governments, not-for-profit OHV clubs and organizations, businesses and private individuals may apply for grants through the program. Projects are reviewed and recommended for funding by the Off-Highway Vehicle Trails Advisory Board composed of representatives of motorized recreation groups and organizations.

The grant to the Little Egypt Off-Road Motorcycle Club will help the group's 718-acre site south of Route 13 east of Marion.

According to the state's news release the project will include "construction of a shower and bathroom building, a picnic shelter with 20 picnic tables, the purchase of two utility ATVs for trail maintenance/security/rescue operations, the development of 12 additional miles of OHV trails, and funds for advertising the site."

Also in Southern Illinois Williams Hill Pass Association in southern Saline County will use $188,700 for improvements to their 220-acre OHV park on the north side of Williams Hill. There, "funds will be used for improvements to the showers, to widen and upgrade the entrance and site interior road, to install a water line to the welcome center/shower building, and funds for advertising the site."

The next round of grants will be accepted from January 1 to March 1, 2008. For more information check out the IDNR Division of Grant Administration.

Kerasotes to Donate Varsity to Stage Co.

Carbondale Mayor Brad Cole unveiled news this morning at his annual State of the City Address that Kerasotes Theatres will donate the shuttered Varsity Theater for the new home of The Stage Co.

Just yesterday, I spoke with one of the Kerasotes’ brothers, and after several years and more intensely the last several weeks and months, I am proud to announce today that the Varsity Theater will soon be donated to the community and will be available to become the permanent home of The Stage Company and hopefully some other not-for-profit organizations, such as Carbondale Community Arts.

That property will then become the Varsity Arts Center, a community-oriented, visual and performing arts center that will combine the nostalgia and romanticism of the past with the modern conveniences of the present.

Now, there is still much work that needs to be done, to renovate the property and to build proper offices, community rooms and staging areas, but this is a dream come true for many. It is certainly something I am very excited about and it will return the Varsity Theater to an active, integral part of the downtown entertainment atmosphere.

Several people are responsible for making this happen. First, of course, the Kerasotes family and Kerasotes Theaters company should be thanked and thanked again. Also, we should thank Trace Brown and Charlie Brown and Associates for doing a thorough inspection of the property and detailing an appraisal that makes it financially worthwhile for the company to donate it to us. And, without a doubt, all the people that have supported me behind the scenes (pun intended) to work with the property owners to get to this point… that specifically includes people like Blanche and Fred Sloan and Trish and John Guyon, who have all kept hoping and pushing to see something come to fruition. I hope they’re as excited about this as I am.

Congratulations Carbondale, not only will this be a boost for the Stage Co., but also for the Strip along South Illinois Avenue

Las Vegas Flights Cancelled Before Take-Off

Dreams of direct flights from Williamson County Airport to Las Vegas dissipated over the weekend with Friday's announcement that the flights scheduled to start in February would be canceled due to high fuel prices.

The Southern Illinois has more in Friday's article as well as more today in a follow-up.

Friday also marked the final day of air service from Williamson County to Chicago courtesy of Mesa Airlines in Phoenix. Only air service to St. Louis remains. There are two flights a day through Great Lakes Airlines in Cheyenne, Wyo.

"If there is a silver lining, it's that an airline like Allegiant did have interest in us and someone else will again," Kimmel said.

Crab Orchard Refuge Updates

I attended last night's annual meeting of the Friends of Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge. There are were a number of projects I heard updates about, some were new, some I just knew were in the works.

Here's a summary:

• Bogard Point Fishing Area — While there is already a fishing dock and benches at Bogard Point on the west side of Wolf Creek Road on the north shore of Crab Orchard Lake, the Friends approved a bid last night night to pay for a new 690 feet long walking path to extend from the existing parking lot, as well as five new picnic tables.
  
  
• Bike Trail — The Friends has a committee working on developing bike trails inside the refuge and a surveying class at SIU-Carbondale is helping to do some of the planning work. They are generally looking to develop the first leg from the old northeast entrance of the refuge at Timmons Station Road on Marion's southwest side then following the old railroad grades across the north side of the refuge over to Wolf Creek Road. They are currently working on a grant to help cover the costs of doing this and replacing some of the bridge crossings.
  
  
• Devils Kitchen Campground — The campground at Devil's Kitchen Lake will reopen next year on Memorial Day as a primitive campground. Amenities will include the shower building and plus another 9 or 10 tent camping sites.
  
  
• Turn Lanes on Route 148 — Refuge Manager Dan Frisk told the group that the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Illinois Department of Transportation have worked out a plan to provide turn lanes on Route 148 in front of the Visitors Center. As part of the project the intersection of Pigeon Creek Road and Route 148 will be realigned to match the entrance with the visitors center. Construction on this project should begin next summer.

The Friends of Crab Orchard NWR meets the first Thursday of every month at 6:30 p.m. at the refuge Visitors Center at 8588 Route 148 South.

Court Oversight of Shawnee Forest Continues

The Daily Register is reporting that U.S. District Judge J. Phil Gilbert has decided to continue court oversight of the U.S. Forest Service's operations of trails and public guide and outfitter permits.

The Forest Service wanted out from the scrutiny.

Environmentalists and equestrians, usually at odds over forest use issues, joined together in supporting another year of oversight, which Gilbert saw as a positive step. Everyone seems to be working together at the Lusk Creek area — the flashpoint of debate in the case. Any cooperation between environmentalists and horse riders has to be seen as progress, the judge said Tuesday.

I used to cover the judge and the various lawsuits concerning the Shawnee National Forest in the 90s. Gilbert has been hearing those cases for more than a decade and has little patience for squabbling.

Corps Announces Winter Rules for Rend Lake

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is blaming its budget which they say will limit public access to parts of its Rend Lake complex this winter.

The following is from today's news release:

Benton, IL – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Rend Lake is announcing some changes to the operation of two areas at Rend Lake for the upcoming winter months and the 2008 recreation season.

During the period of 1 December, 2007 thru 3 March, 2008 the Rend Lake Dam Road will no longer be open for public travel. The road will be gated and remain closed throughout the winter months. Access to this road will be made available on 3 March 2008. This closure is due to constrained resources for operating recreation areas at Rend Lake.

The popular “short cut” road which crosses over the Rend Lake dam will be gated to the west at the intersection of the Rend Lake Dam Road and the Rend City Road and to the east, slightly north of the intersection of the Licata and Mine 24 roads. The Sugar Creek parking lot will remain open for access throughout the winter season.

In addition, the South Marcum Recreation area will be open during the period of 15 July, 2008 thru 31 October, 2008. Areas that will be affected by this delayed opening will include South Marcum Boat Ramp, Shelter 9, Dale Miller Youth Area, and all campsites in the South Marcum Campground. No reservations will be taken for sites in the campground or the Dale Miller Youth area for the period of 1 April – 14 July, 2008. Any reservations which have been made prior to this announcement will be rescheduled.

For further information feel free to contact the Rend Lake Project Office at 618-724-2493.

The Southern Illinoisan already has an article available on its Afternoon Edition.

Marion Seeks Proposals for Old Hospital

Monday night the Marion City Council voted to seek proposals for redevelopment of the old Marion Memorial Hospital site. A Request for Proposal (RFP) went out yesterday.

Here's the RFP in part:

The City of Marion is seeking proposals from qualified developers to acquire and redevelop the former Marion Memorial Hospital located at 917 W. Main Street in Marion, IL.

Letters of intent must be submitted to Gail West, Director of Economic Development, City of Marion, 1102 Tower Square, Marion, IL 62959 by: 5 p.m., Friday, December 3, 2007.

The City of Marion will require the selected development team to enter into a redevelopment agreement with the City and commit to a timeline for improvements.

Background: The former Marion Memorial Hospitals sits on 7.448 acres, on Main Street and one block off of Route 37. The zoning of the site is C-1, General Commercial. The site is composed of three buildings, with a total square footage of 139,176 square feet. The largest building housed an 84 bed hospital and has 121768 sq ft. Attached to the main building is a 10528 sq ft one story building that served as an OB addition. The third Building also a one story brick building served as an insurance processing center and contains 6880 sq ft. Available utilities upon the site are city water, city sewer, electricity, natural gas and telephone. The topography of the site is generally level, drainage is adequate and landscaping is good. The driveway surface and parking areas are mostly asphalt covered. There are 135 parking spaces.

Redevelopment Objectives:
The City of Marion desires to encourage a development project that is innovative and will utilize either: (1) the existing structures or (2) by demolishing the existing structure(s), development of a project with retail, restaurant, and professional offices and/or mixed-use structures and which could include a combination of the following: street-level retail or restaurant and second level housing (town homes, loft-style apartments) and professional offices.

Available Incentives:
Acquisition: The City of Marion is willing to negotiate the cost of the building depending on the project scope and financial feasibility. A financial commitment will be required as a down payment.

The down payment and end use will both be used to judge the award of the proposal.

Hub TIF: The site is located in the Marion’s Hub Tax Increment Financing District. The City is willing to enter into a TIF agreement with the developer.

Williamson Snags Air Service to Vegas

Beginning Feb. 1, Southern Illinoisans will be able to fly direct to Las Vegas from Williamson County Regional Airport.

Airport Manager Doug Kimmel made the announcement this morning that Alligiant Air would begin service locally in just over three months.

Codell Rodriguez has the story at TheSouthern.com:

Flights will leave Williamson County at 1:25 p.m. Mondays and Fridays and arrive in Las Vegas at 2:55 p.m. with fares as low as $79 one way until May 15, 2008, when it will rise to about $99. Allegiant will use a 150-seat MD-80 jet, the largest plane the airport has ever used. Doug Kimmel, airport manager, said Allegiant expressed interest in expanding to Marion in November of 2006 because of the airports runway extension to 8,000 feet.

New Air Service for Williamson County

Officials with Williamson County Regional Airport will announce new air service tomorrow (Tuesday, Oct. 23) at 10 a.m. in the airline terminal.

It's been "win one, lose one" over the last few months with St. Louis service returning and Chicago service leaving next month.

In August airport manager Doug Kimmel told the Southern Illinoisan that negotiations were underway with Allegiant Air concerning service to vacation spots Orlando and Las Vegas.

No word if this is the announcement tomorrow, if it's Great Lakes Airlines taking over Chicago service, or something else entirely. Whatever, it's a step forward.

The media and public are invited to the announcement. Refreshments will be available.

WCTB Staff Take Part in ICCVB Conference

I normally wouldn't use the blog to talk about conferences we attend, but since the Macomb Journal has an article on it I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

The Illinois Council on Convention and Visitor Bureaus is the state trade association for tourism bureaus across the state. Macomb hosted this fall's conference.

"We're all doing the same thing, we're just doing it for different areas," said Kimberly Bless, chair of the ICCVB and President and CEO of the Elgin Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Tourism in Illinois is booming, relatively speaking. Back up to pre-Sept. 11 numbers, it's now in the top 10 industries that make up the Illinois economy.

"We've seen double digit growth in tourism money (spent) in Illinois over the last few years," Bless said.

One of the biggest assets ICCVB provides Williamson County is the opportunity to participate in trade shows and promotional events that would normally be too expensive for the bureau to do ourselves.

ICCVB has long had three niche committees - Tour Illinois, Meet in Illinois and Sports Illinois - which focus on the motorcoach/group tour markets, the meetings and conventions market and sports tourism respectively. A new committee, Market Illinois, held its first meeting this week and besides providing professional development opportunities for the bureaus' marketing directors plans to start attending travel writer conferences.

Log Cabins Opening and Under Construction

I spoke with Jim Grissley of Olde Squat Inn this afternoon about some pictures promoting log cabin stays in Southern Illinois.

Grissley's establishment is a virtual village of reconstructed historic log cabins a few miles east and a bit south of Johnston City and northeast of Marion.

The picture is of the inside of the "newest" cabin, the Church Cabin, so-named because much of the lumber used for trim inside came from an old church.

I took the picture last fall and the cabin opened for rentals this spring. That gives him eight rooms in five cabins.

Jim's cabins aren't the only ones in the county. Devil's Kitchen Cabins opened last fall with one cabin on private property between Grassy Road and Devil's Kitchen Lake.

The demand is so great that they started on a second cabin this summer. It should be ready for rent either by late winter or early spring.

Win One, Lose One

Just as we win a victory with air service resuming to St. Louis next month from Williamson County Regional Airport, Mesa Airlines announced this week they will be suspending air service to Chicago.

Airport Manager Doug Kimmel called the decision an "unfortunate situation" in an interview with the Southern Illinoisan.

Mesa came to Williamson County Airport in February as a result of the I-Fly fund that provided more than $100,000 each to the airports in Marion, Quincy and Decatur. Thomas Bacon, vice president of planning for Mesa Air Group said operating costs were too high and the exit is part of a strategy that will affect services throughout the company.

"We're very disappointed we have to leave the market," Bacon said. "The community's been great."

The only silver lining in the deal is that with the Marion-Decatur-Chicago route officially dead the possibility exists for a new Marion-Springfield-Chicago service which should service a greater demand.

St. Louis Air Service Resumes Next Month

Air service from Williamson County Regional Airport in Marion to Lambert Field in St. Louis will resume November 4.

Initially there will be only two departures and two arrivals at the airport with a morning flight leaving at 6:07 a.m. and arriving in St. Louis at 6:45 a.m. and an afternoon flight leaving Marion at 1:43 p.m. and arriving at Lambert at 2:21 p.m.

Flights from St. Louis at 12:55 p.m. with arrival in Marion at 1:33 p.m. and an evening flight leaving Lambert at 7:30 p.m. and arriving in Marion at 8:08 p.m.

Reservations can be made online at a variety of travel site, or directly from the airline at www.flygreatlakes.com. Fliers can also call the Great Lakes' reservation center at (800) 554-5111 or their local travel agent.

Drought Hits Rend Lake Water Levels

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is announced further temporary restrictions at Rend Lake today due to low water levels.

I ran into Matt Stroebel of SnS Guide Service at a convenience store on the way to work this morning. He knew of a number of fishermen who were getting boats and equipment damaged who were not used to how shallow the lake was getting in parts.

Today's announcement by the Corps deals with the closure of the Turnip Patch boat ramp on the west side of the lake in Jefferson County. Last week it was the temporary closure of the North Marcum boat ramp and restrictions on the use of the Gun Creek boat ramp to boats "which require less than one foot of draft when afloat".

Still, fishermen and boaters still have access to the remaining 15 boat ramps.

The following is from today's announcement.

Below normal rainfall during the summer season has left Rend Lake water levels near record low elevations. The pool elevation at Rend Lake is currently 403.97 NGVD (National Geodetic Vertical Datum), which is approximately 1 foot below October’s average pool elevation of 404.9 NGVD.

The all-time low pool elevation recorded for Rend Lake was reached in November of 1974 with a level of 402.95 NGVD. The lake reached recreation “normal” pool of 405.0 NGVD for the first time following its construction in the fall of 1973.

Low water levels can cause sand bars, stumps and other obstructions to surface in unexpected areas. As always, the Corps strongly encourages boaters to wear their life jacket and exercise extreme caution when on the waters of Rend Lake.

Additional information on current lake levels and low water restrictions by calling the 24-hour Recreation Information Network at 618-625-1828 or by contacting the Rend Lake Project Office at 618-724-2493 or by email at rendinfo@usace.army.mil.

Low Water Levels Restrict Rend Lake Ramps

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued the following news release today concerning low water levels at Rend Lake.

Due to the unseasonably low water levels, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Rend Lake is announcing the temporary closure of the North Marcum boat ramp and restrictions being placed on the use of the Gun Creek boat ramp.

The use of the Gun Creek boat ramp is being limited to boats which require less than 1 foot of draft when afloat. Both of these areas will re-open for unrestricted use when water levels return to levels which allow for the safe use of these facilities. No restrictions are currently in place for the remaining 16 boat ramps at Rend Lake which remain open for public use.

Below normal rainfall during the summer season has left Rend Lake water levels near record low elevations. The pool elevation at Rend Lake is currently 403.97 NVGD (National Vertical Geodetic Datum), which is approximately 1 foot below October’s average pool elevation of 404.9 NGVD.

The all-time low pool elevation recorded for Rend Lake was reached in November of 1974 with a level of 402.95 NGVD. The lake reached recreation “normal” pool of 405.0 NGVD for the first time following its construction in the fall of 1973.

Low water levels can cause sand bars, stumps and other obstructions to surface in unexpected areas. As always, the Corps strongly encourages boaters to wear their life jacket and exercise extreme caution when on the waters of Rend Lake.

For additional information on current lake levels and low water restrictions call the 24-hour Recreation Information Network at 618-625-1828 or by contacting the Rend Lake Project Office at 618-724-2493 or by email at rendinfo@usace.army.mil.